Review/Giveaway: Touching Wonder

A WINNING READINGS GIVEAWAY!

Title: Touching Wonder: Recapturing the Awe of Christmas

Author: John Blase

Genre: Christian nonfiction

How to enter: Leave a comment on THIS post right here! If you're a subscriber or a follower, leave a second comment for a second entry.
Entry deadline: December 10, 2009
Restrictions: Open internationally

That's right, enter right here for this giveaway. Please note: we are giving away our review copy, so it has been gently read.

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One of the spectacular things of having a kid is experiencing the magic of Christmas all over again. As we walked through Michaels, two-year-old Esmé stood in awe at the blinking lights of the decorated trees, getting louder and louder in her exclamations until she caught sight of the PINK glistening tree at the end of the row. Can you imagine anything more exciting than a flashing pink tree?!

And the manger. How fascinated she is with the manger. At church, she stood in silence at the manger scene, and I wondered what was going through her mind. Back at home, she filled a basket with paper trimmings from a project I had been cutting it out - calling it straw - and curled up in the "manger," reliving the event. She looks in the night sky and sees angels doing "glory to God." And I can't argue with her - I'm sure they are really there.

I recently came across a book that took me back to the original Christmas scene: the human-ness of it; the awesomeness of it. I felt like I was there, going through all the emotions, and feeling the wonder amidst the sweat and pain.

Touching Wonder: Recapturing the Awe of Christmas by John Blase was the book. A quick or meditative read, depending on your schedule, it repeats the familiar Christmas Bible passages, and then expounds on what was happening through all the characters' points of view.

Here's what the press release says about the book: "In Touching Wonder, readers will meet a cast of unruly unlikelies - a frightened teenage girl, a worried carpenter, a collection of senior citizens, a disillusioned young shepherd, even an angel or two - moving toward the realization that the little one just born is the One. This imaginative retelling of the grand miracle will leave readers wide-eyed, slack-jawed, and heartful. The Lord is come!"

John Blase, the author, is a former pastor who edits by day and writes by night. He and his wife, Meredith, have three children and live in Colorado

You can find this book for purchase at David C. Cook for $12.99, where you'll also find a book trailer.

Thanks to The B&B Media Group, Inc for the review copy of this book.